In an obvious ambush of Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina, Fox News commentator Glen Beck told Medina in a radio interview that he had received emails from listeners saying that she was a 9/11 truther, that is, a person who believes that the U.S. government was behind the 9/11 attacks.

Medina failed to specifically deny the charge, indicated that she didn’t have an opinion on the matter, stated that some good questions had been raised about the issue, and said that the American people had not seen all the evidence. Medina later issued a statement stating that she has never been involved in the 9/11 truth movement and affirming her conviction that the U.S. government was not behind the 9/11 attacks.

After the interview was over, Beck and his on-air cohorts began yucking it up, scratching off any prospects for Medina, who has recently soared from 4 percent in the polls to 24 percent, to win the race. “Wow!” Beck exclaimed, “The fastest way back to four percent. I think I can write her off the list.”

Beck’s mindset was precisely the type of mindset that I described in my September 17, 2009, article “Operation Northwoods and the 9/11 Truthers.” That article addressed the mindset of Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer regarding the 9/11 truthers, a mindset that is clearly the same as Beck’s.

There are several possible reactions to the claims made by the 9/11 truthers:

1. “I have reviewed the evidence and have not been convinced that the government was behind the attacks.”

2. “I have reviewed the evidence and am convinced that the government was behind the attacks.”

3. “I have not reviewed the evidence and, therefore, do not have an opinion on the subject.”

4. “I don’t care what the evidence is because it is inconceivable that the U.S. government would ever commit such a dastardly act, and anyone who doesn’t immediately denounce such a possibility is an unpatriotic whacko who hates America.”

From the interview with Medina it’s obvious which category Beck falls into: Number 4, the same category that Krauthammer falls into.

Alas, however, Beck is guilty of the same critical omission that characterized Krauthammer: Operation Northwoods.

Beck, like Krauthammer, is not a dumb man. He is intelligent and well-read. The possibility that he has never heard of Operation Northwoods is virtually nil. So, why omit it from the discussion? Obviously because the reality of Operation Northwoods just doesn’t fit within a mindset that characterizes people like Beck and Krauthammer. So, it becomes necessary, from a psychological standpoint, to simply pretend that it never happened.

But reality is reality. In 1962 the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff unanimously conspired in Operation Northwoods to commit fake terrorist attacks, including airplane hijackings, on American soil, attacks that were even designed to cost the lives of innocent Americans. Once the attacks had taken place, the plan called for U.S. officials to blame them on the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. Americans would be so hyped up and angry that they would support a U.S. invasion of Cuba, which would enable U.S. officials to finally fulfill their dream of effecting regime change in that country. The Pentagon has never apologized or expressed one iota of regret for having recommended its secret plan to the president.

So, given the reality of Operation Northwoods, how can anyone intelligently claim that it is inconceivable that the U.S. government would engage in fake terrorist attacks on the United States? It’s one thing to say that one hasn’t been persuaded by the evidence presented by the 9/11 truthers (a category I happen to fall into), but it’s quite another thing to suggest that it is inconceivable that the U.S. government would commit such an dastardly act.

How about it, Beck? Let’s hear you reconcile your mocking attack on Medina with the reality of Operation Northwoods. Or are you in the same camp as Bill Clinton, who once suggested that you can’t love your country while professing a hatred for the wrongdoing of your government?

For more information on this sordid and evil conspiracy, Google “Operation Northwoods” or click here for the Wikipedia entry on it.

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Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. He was born and raised in Laredo, Texas, and received his B.A. in economics from Virginia Military Institute and his law degree from the University of Texas. He was a trial attorney for twelve years in Texas. He also was an adjunct professor at the University of Dallas, where he taught law and economics. In 1987, Mr. Hornberger left the practice of law to become director of programs at the Foundation for Economic Education.
He has advanced freedom and free markets on talk-radio stations all across the country as well as on Fox News’ Neil Cavuto and Greta van Susteren shows and he appeared as a regular commentator on Judge Andrew Napolitano’s show Freedom Watch. View these interviews at
LewRockwell.com and from
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Jacob G. Hornberger

Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation.